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How did they not make it big?

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    #76
    Originally posted by ale View Post
    The Scars-Author Author is magnificent & should have been the precursor for greater things.

    Do Au Pairs count?-again Playing With A Different Sex was deserving of a higher audience but Sense & Sensuality was a major dissapointment.
    Ale, my brother had The Scars album years ago. Can't recall ever hearing anyone else mention them.

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      #77
      The Pale Fountains - both their albums are full of great tunes.

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        #78
        Agree - but continued issues with heroin probably didn't help. Mick Head of course also made some good records with Shack (1988-2006) and The Strands (1997) - but Pale Fountains was his pinnacle. Never managed a Top 40 hit with any of 'em.

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          #79
          Did Stan Ridgway reap much in the way of rewards as a solo artist, beyond Camouflage?


          Edit: didn't see that conversation had moved on from WoV across pages.

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            #80
            Some of his other tunes got superficial airplay, but that was pretty much a freak hit.

            ('When such things could happen.' İ Jah Womble, most years)

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              #81
              It was always a bit odd when a serious act scored something akin to a novelty hit with a non-novelty song. That said, in terms of chart predecessors, Camouflage probably fitted in alongside A Boy Named Sue, Convoy and other semi-spoken numbers.

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                #82
                It's the sort of song that could've slotted into the charts 10-20 years previously, but not now.

                Had it been released around 1974 it'd likely have gone Top Ten in the US, such was the penchant for 'story' songs (Cat's in the Cradle, Angie Baby, etc).

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                  #83
                  Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post
                  Some of his other tunes got superficial airplay, but that was pretty much a freak hit.

                  ('When such things could happen.' İ Jah Womble, most years)
                  When one of the major music chains went tits up, I loaded up on dozens of cassettes for a buck a piece just for a lark. Stan Ridgeway's 'Greatest Hits' was one of them, and was full of surprisingly good songs. A fun cover of Ring of Fire was one of them.

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                    #84
                    Can’t claim to have followed Stan Ridgway’s solo career all that closely - he’s still recording and playing shows now - but the first two albums he did after leaving Wall Of Voodoo are tremendous. The first, The Big Heat, included Camouflage; the second, Mosquitoes, is a really outstanding record that I’d recommend to anyone. Here’s Walkin’ Home Alone from The Big Heat and A Mission In Life from Mosquitoes.



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                      #85
                      Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post
                      Agree - but continued issues with heroin probably didn't help. Mick Head of course also made some good records with Shack (1988-2006) and The Strands (1997) - but Pale Fountains was his pinnacle. Never managed a Top 40 hit with any of 'em.
                      I also like the Shack and Strands stuff but the two Pale Fountains albums coincide with my uni days so have a special place in my heart.

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                        #86
                        Same here - well, art school days - and I think they have the edge over his later works.

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                          #87
                          Originally posted by DPDPDPDP View Post
                          Ale, my brother had The Scars album years ago. Can't recall ever hearing anyone else mention them.
                          A friend of mine at the time was a Scars fan,they were gaining some momentum but they had an agreement that if one of them left the band would split up, of course,one of them did so stupidly in my opinion they honoured their commitment

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                            #88
                            Looking at the unbridled worship in the Beatles adulation thread made me think about some of their contemporaries who never made it big but produced outstanding material. Here is a good example, the aptly named Misunderstood:



                            Side A of this 1966 album sounds less dated and more interesting than anything the Beatles put up. Peel was a big fan, but they never really took off and dissolved shortly after that.

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                              #89
                              Originally posted by elguapo4 View Post
                              A friend of mine at the time was a Scars fan,they were gaining some momentum but they had an agreement that if one of them left the band would split up, of course,one of them did so stupidly in my opinion they honoured their commitment
                              Didnt know that. Just remember hearing Horrorshow/Adultery on Peel and being blown away. That they managed at least one album is a bonus given such a commitment. Even if it was long enough to record Silver Dream Racer.

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                                #90
                                i wrote earlier about Friends Again (check out State of Art on YouTube) and then The Bathers (check out If Love Could Last Forever or Gracefruit).

                                Another Glasgow band from the mid 80's onwards who should have been huge but are virtually unheard of are The Orchids. Jangly guitars, sound a bit like Orange Juice or the Bluebells. Check out Tiny Words or Blue Light. Excellent.

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                                  #91
                                  Just gave The Orchids a listen. Very nice. Oddly, just released a new single a month ago, too.

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                                    #92
                                    Originally posted by Abertwisted View Post
                                    The Pale Fountains - both their albums are full of great tunes.
                                    Agreed. Don't know how I missed them at the time but recently a mate was raving about them, so I gave them a good blast on YouTube. A lot of good songs and albums bought soon after on iTunes.

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                                      #93
                                      Originally posted by Jah Womble View Post

                                      One or two decent bands came out of that scene: I still like Green On Red and Dream Syndicate,
                                      I've just been listening to Dream Syndicate's 2017 album, How Did I Find Myself Here on youtube and it's really pretty good.

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                                        #94
                                        The Strypes have split up, really thought they were going to make it, too much too young

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